¶ The Comedy Game
Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride Home Rants podcast . This is , as always , your host , mike Bono . I have a great guest for us today , a comic friend of mine . We were in the Top Dog Comedy Contest back in June together . We actually took first and second in that show .
Based on the judges , the crowd kind of had other opinions with the people that got brought to the show . But I digress . My good buddy from Columbus , tristan Shea , joins the show . Tristan , thanks for joining brother . Yeah , thanks for having me . So how long have you been doing comedy ?
I have only been doing comedy since January of this year , so about rounding out like nine months in .
Okay , Okay so , and it got complete newbie . I would say yeah . Yeah , yeah , still greener around , the gills you know what's your thought of the comedy game , being that fresh into it , talking to somebody who's been in the game 11 years . So like what's your thought process coming into this ?
So my thought process is it's been really interesting to learn , like , how it all works , especially in , like , the Columbus scene . There's a lot of like really exciting things happening right now . So I hear a lot of stories of people who have been in it for years and they kind of been stuck at one level .
You know , like they feel like they're stuck at the open mic stage or something like that . They can't get booked on shows . But right now it's like if you turn around the corner , somebody's putting on a comedy show in Columbus .
So for me , I feel like I joined it just the right time to where , like there's opportunities left and right and it's just a matter of kind of where can I grab onto this trajectory ? And I'm also I'm an opportunist . So , like for me , if , like if there's not an opportunity that I see that I can get into , then I create my own opportunity .
That's the mindset you need coming into this . I wish I had that mindset when I started 11 years ago in the comedy . It was more or less a buddy of mine asked me to go on stage at one of his open mics because he was like , dude , you're hysterical and I need to feel a spot .
So like , just go on stage and like I went on and killed and kind of caught the comedy , the comedy bug , and have been doing it ever since . But it's a grind at the beginning . But like you said , I think , covid , and coming out of that , like we were with everything that was shut down and then people just wanted to do shows .
So everybody was like let's put a show here , let's put a show here . So shows are popping up more and more . That I've noticed , you know , more often than I'm used to seeing . You know I didn't have a lot of opportunities .
Starting out my buddy was just running shows here and there and he'd come pick me up and we would just drive all over and sometimes doing two and three shows a night in two or three different cities . You know what I mean . Like it was and then turning around and going to my day job in the morning . That was fun . That was fun .
Two or three hours of sleep . But I was in my early 20s . You could do that then , you know . Now I'm in my 30s , it's like , all right , it's 11 o'clock , like I'm going to be a bear tomorrow morning .
So I'm rapidly approaching that stage and I'm trying to get like I'm trying to get big enough before I'm 30 to where I don't have to do all that like grinding and then trying to go to work the next day .
It's a good plan . I hope you achieve that because you know , as somebody who loves seeing other comics grow and flourish in this business , it's . It was a grind . Like I remember driving back home from Bumfuck Illinois to West Virginia in the middle of the night and not even having time to stop at home .
I stopped at a truck shop , took a horse bath and went to work Like I had been up for , like I think it was like 36 straight hours , yeah , and it was like you know , back then I could do it . You know you pound a Red Bull or a monster and you're good to go for the day .
But now it's like I need two cups of coffee and a BFC monster to get me through the day . Just an eight hour work day . Like you know what I mean . And it's it gets to that point where , early on , if you're grinding that hard , that early , it's like is this even worth it ? Do you have any of that mentality Like right now ?
I mean I know you have a lot of shows popping up here and there and you know it's a lot better than when I started way back a decade ago . But do you have that thought process like , man , I'm doing all this Is this comedy game even worth it .
So the thing for me is that I have I have a very solid day job that I'm passionate about , like in my . In my day job I'm a counselor training , so basically , like I'm an intern in school right now to be a counselor . Okay , so for me comedy is it's an outlet , right , like having a job like that .
It's like I'm carrying a lot of things that other people tell me it's very heavy work , and so then I do that by day , at night , I get to go up on stage and like let it all out and like just , you know , make mockery of life , right , because so much of life is like so serious and everything else that I do .
That like finding a way to just like this is all kind of ridiculous If you think about it in like a different way , right , like so kind of like being able to point out the ridiculous things with the funny things or whatever . It's like it's very therapeutic for me to be able to go on stage and do comedy . So I think of comedy first and foremost as that .
It's like it's a hobby that lets me , you know , process things in my own way , like I am taking things that are like very serious , finding the humor in them . All of that and as far as making it into a career right now , I feel very lucky and very blessed , like the opportunities that I've had at this early in the game .
It's been for me I haven't quite had that like is this worth it kind of question , but it's in like the back of my mind . I've had this almost like this thought process of myself where I'm like at what point would I know that I need to hang , like throwing the towel ?
And for me it's like if opportunities kind of stopped , I think it would be difficult for me to keep going with it , because it's just such a , it's competitive and but that's another thing is that kind of . I've learned very quickly that as competitive as it is , the more you collaborate with other people , the more successful you're going to be .
Right , yeah , I had a to come to that realization , you know , early on . You know it was me , my buddy , and , like I said , we were driving all over the place doing two , three shows a night , a little open mic nights , just finding any bar that had an open mic night , going and just getting up on stage to get that stage time in .
And when he kind of went off and , you know , had his day job that he was more passionate about than comedy and comedy was just a hobby for him . And I had seen it and was like you know what ? I want to make a career out of this .
So it when he left comedy I was like , ah , you know what , I'm a smart enough guy I could do this on my own and for like three or four years doing on your own is bullshit , like it's the worst .
But I relate so much to what you just said because , like you said , with your day job , it's getting up on stage is a way to turn off everything and just make light of every situation .
The way I got known and why people call me the angry white comic is because I've worked in sales for these past 11 years and I can't just go off on customers while I'm at work and you get those dumb fucking questions that you hear every day and it's just like it's not .
If I'm going to hear a dumb question today , it's what dumb question am I going to hear today ? And I just turned around and just got on stage and just started basically word vomiting my day . That was what I did and it was , it was my therapy . You know what I mean . It was going out there and , yeah , I couldn't tell this person .
They were the dumbest person on the face of the planet because they didn't know they had to charge their flip phone .
Yeah .
Yeah , I worked in cell phones and a lady came in super pissed off because her phone just shut off and she didn't know what happened , oh my God . So I was still kind of a smart ass punk at this point in time and , like I was , I was just like oh well , have you been in the sun a lot ? She was just like what do you mean ?
I was like oh well , these things are actually solar powered . So if you're going to Walmart to do your shopping , if you just leave it on your dashboard , it'll turn back wrong . And as soon as you're done with your shopping oh my God , it makes me feel so much better she left not knowing I was being a smart ass .
And she came back in an hour later with a hot , sweaty phone , like she had just left it on the dashboard card , like threw it at me . She was like it's still not working . I was like , yeah , I really thought you knew I was joking , I was just trying to make light of my day . Did you open your box for your phone ?
She was like yeah , I was like you know that cord that was in there . She's like , yeah , I didn't know what that was . I was like , yeah , it's a charger , like plug it into the wall and it'll turn back on .
And she had a flip phone too at this point this is the early 2000s Like it's not like smoke phones , you know what's funny , what's funny about that is that , like that was still the era where landlines were around , so the idea that a phone was not connected to a cord was actually a new idea .
Yeah ,
¶ Comedy and Relatable Material
like , how on earth do you not realize that , like , phones are always plugged into walls at that point , and like I had a buddy of mine that worked there and like she walked away and he was just like I really didn't think you were getting out of that .
I was like , oh , I got a show tonight that you're coming to man and this story is definitely getting told on stage . Like there's no doubt I'm not talking about this woman on stage right now , like I don't need to write material . That's where I'm at right now . Is that my day jobs give me all the material I need .
And when it's what started my best joke and stupid should hurt , because you hear so many stupid questions that you know you just want them to feel some sort of pain in their life . Or asking that question and what started my merch store ? The stupid should hurt merch store , you know what I mean ?
And like that's where everyone's just like dude , you're just the angry white comic that goes on these long filled rats on stage . I was like , yeah , I have a lot of pent up anger that I can't express at work and this is my way to just yell into a microphone and a crowd full of people and just get my day out . But people relate to that .
Have you found that when you're comedy , like with what you do telling about those stories on stage . Can you see like the realization in people's faces when you're telling those stories on stage ?
Yeah , like for me , my day job , obviously , like I'm bound to confidentiality , right , I can't use anything from my job really in like I can use the information , but I can't use like stories from people , right . So my inspiration mostly comes from being a dad .
Like my kid is honestly , funnier than I am and I , like someone made a joke at my last show there . She was like you owe your kids royalties for all of your material and I was like she benefits , don't worry , anything I make from comedy she benefits . But yeah , so like a lot of my material is like about being a dad .
It's like things my daughter said , like the experience of raising a kid , or it's like about being married , like things like that I take like just everyday life , right , and that's like the most relatable things and I think , like what you're talking about , like a lot of people work shitty jobs with stupid people .
So if you take something from real life that a lot of people experience , then it's like the audience is right there with you .
Yeah , you know I've done shows where there's four people in the crowd . You know what I mean . Like I've been doing it that long that you know there was times when I showed up . It's like all right , so I'm performing for all the comics that are on the slate tonight and that's it and . But then you have shows that I did literally popped up on my time up .
It was a year ago , this past August , because by the time the show airs , yeah , it'll be past the day , but it was a theater show in Mountain Gilead , ohio , at the Capitol Theater , and it was a packed house and one of my best shows . But you know what I love sometimes , those smaller rooms like the Atticus .
It's a smaller comedy club but it's intimate , where you can do a lot of crowd work . Have you ventured into crowd work yet , being this new in the comedy ?
Not , not as much as I think some people get right into it , like I have . I have friends who kind of started at the same time as me and they're like you got to do more crowd work . For me , crowd work is like it's such a risk , right , it's like a gamble Because I can think of funny things to respond to people . That's what got me into comedy .
Right Is like every conversation I have is like what's the next funny thing that someone could say ? But when someone hits you with something where it's like they either give you not enough or too much , then it's like and actually I've seen people handle that like masterfully . But that's not something that I've
¶ Authenticity in Stand-Up Comedy
gotten into yet . I've gotten into a little bit . I have one joke where I lean into like the therapy thing and I like do basically like a little like miniature therapy session to make fun of some things that therapists do , but I'm on stage . That's the only crowd work that I've really gotten into .
Once you get into it it's so much fun . I fought it for the longest time Like I would just ignore the people that were being assholes in the crowd . And then you know I guess you know like me , you've been in this game long enough you get enough assholes that are just talking over top of the microphone is like . Well , now I'm going to say something .
Like you know what I mean , like that's where . But once you master that fine line between just being a complete dick and being funny at the same time oh , chef's kiss it's , it's gold , like . And a lot of times I even noticed , like now , like a lot of my shows , like people are like oh man , you're , you're doing a lot of crowd work .
It's like , yeah , I mean , that's what I feel , like I'm getting better with just doing crowd work and it's funnier stuff . Because , hey , if somebody's coming to a comedy show , for the people out there that don't like understand this , like they're coming there to have a good time .
So if somebody's like continuously talking and ruining the show , like now that I'm talking back to them , the entirety of the crowd is now focused in on hating this person . It just brings the crowd back on your side . I've been bombing before , like it's been . It's not a matter of if it's when you're going to bomb on stage . It happens to every comic .
Even these big headliners have bombed a lot in their career , and but if you can just start talking to somebody and then get the crowd back on your side , no matter what you say , like they're going to laugh , yeah .
And I saw you do that at the attic where , like I'm sure your material was funny but you used maybe like one minute of material and the rest was crowd work . And then that was what yeah , that was what the judges ended up voting as like the best , because it was just all . It was all like off the cuff .
It was like not playing ahead of time and you were just responding to whatever the audience was throwing at you .
Yeah , it like I was . At first I was pissed Like . I was like I had such a solid five minutes for this contest set and it was starting because I came out to country . I knew nobody was coming out the country Like , so that I worked .
My whole set was about me growing up in West Virginia and being country and nobody else had , and then people just started talking shit and I lost my mind , and then I got the light . I was like , oh , wow , yeah , I just used my entire stage . I'm just losing my shit .
But you know what , in a room like the attic where everyone's so close and a lot of them were there to see other people Like in a contest , right , so they have kind of like a vested interest in throwing you off and then to watch you go like tit for tat with anybody who was trying to give you shit in that show Like I think that was what was most
impressive about that is they're like people were trying to throw you off and you were like , well , no , that's not going to happen . Like I've got the microphone .
I've been in this game way too long for that to happen . I mean , I say this every time somebody says something to me at one of my shows . It's just like you know what I love hecklers .
I've done contests where it was strictly a heckler's show and I took second in it and like the whole point of that show was to handle the hecklers and whoever did it the best won the show .
And like I say it all the time , it's like , yeah , if you want to talk shit , go ahead , but I'm just letting you know I have a microphone and you are all in proximity to this speaker system and I'll ruin your fucking night . I'm doing that right now .
Yeah , it's so much fun to me and it was funny because even at the attic I got heckled by my wife on stage too as well Like that was even a fun part that she's never said anything during one of my shows .
This was the first time she's heckled me during one of my shows and we've been together eight years and she's missed two shows in eight years One she had food poisoning and the other one she had COVID . So like pretty good excuses Like why she wasn't there . So I mean , but yeah , it's just like because I didn't even realize it was her .
Like I was just in that zone on stage and I just heard a woman's voice and that's all I heard on stage and I was like who is my fucking wife like that ? And I was actually .
I think it was funny because I was watching that set and I think that was like like I had talked to you before the set and everything . So I was like already , like like rooting for you .
That was the moment where I decided objectively , you won me over , like if I hadn't known you before that set and I was watching , that was the moment where I was like , if I didn't know you , that's where you would have won me over .
Talking shit to my wife , exactly , and the sad thing is that's how me and her are , though . Like people were like , how do you turn off that stage persona and go back to your daily life ? And I just look at my stage persona the fuck's the stage person . I'm the same lovable asshole .
I am on stage , I am off , like in me and my wife , and that's just like . I'm surprised , honestly , because I'm full blooded Italian . My wife is full Irish .
We're a very loud household , as it is Like it's just too loud nationalities living together , and people probably think like our neighbors are probably like , wow , these assholes moved in next door , and like they are just fighting constantly . But no , we're just communicating in a easier fashion . Like it's turned AC down .
I'm fucking doing it Like you know what I mean , like that's just how we talk to each other and it works , because I've said this on stage too as well . I was like , yeah , my wife , she's just like me , just with tits . You know what I mean . Like that's where we're at . We're the same person , she just has bigger tits .
Yeah , and it's funny you say that about like the stage persona , because it's a I mean , to a certain degree it's like there's a character that you have on stage right , like it's not in every situation in your life .
You have an actual microphone and everybody has to listen to you , but that general like your material , if you're trying to be somebody who you're not , it's going to you're going to bomb every single time . Yeah , because you have to like .
You really have to be authentic when you're doing comedy , like even though you are , you're on stage , you're performing with stand-up comedy specifically , it's like the most authentic art form there is , because people can tell when you're being not genuine , like people can tell and it's just they will back away so quickly .
And I kind of had to go through that journey with , like my writing style , where I was like I was watching a lot of like more like dark comedy and I was like I want to get into doing my dark jokes .
Like Anthony Jussman was like really like I was really like into watching it and like I was like , ok , I'm going to try this , I'm going to try writing some short jokes with like that dark turn and things like that and all of my friends like were like you , like
¶ Funny Jokes and Personal Stories
you can't do that . They were like you , you're not an asshole , like you're not a douchebag , you can't . Like when you're , when you're offstage , you're not that guy . So like when , when you're onstage and doing that kind of stuff , people can tell . And I was like it really clicked for me that . I was like yeah , that's just not my .
I had like I have to be genuine to who I am .
Yeah , and you know people ask me all the time like oh my god , how did you think of that joke ? How did you write that joke ? I was just like write that joke . That's a true story . That happened to me . Like that's actually what happened , like everything so far . People asked me like is everything you say on stage true ?
And to this point , yes , you know . And people like I really wish I could have done this joke because I wanted to do it at the attic and it's the best joke I have and I've done it for 11 years and it still gets a laugh and I've just dubbed it my rape joke . And yeah it . It sounds bad , but let me get into this for the new listeners out there .
Like it's not a bout rape , but it was about the first time I stated in ex-girlfriend's place , like she told me what side of the bed I had to sleep on , like that's , and I asked her like what is that side ? Like your side or or something ?
She goes no , your that side's just closest to the door in case somebody breaks in and tries to rape me , to which I just looked at her when this just happened .
A lot is that why I'm here like I'm security ?
it's like I was like , because if it's gotten to the point where you started to prepare for it , I think you have grounds to break your lease . I'm just throwing that out . They're like this is a true thing . That happened .
Like this is a true story in a real conversation that I had with someone that I was dating at the time and like it , yeah , and we had , and we I remember having a fight with her about this situation . That wasn't going to happen . You know what I mean . Like I was just like what and I was like and what do you think's gonna happen ?
He's gonna break in , get all the way to the bedroom and go out fuck it , she's on the other side and leave . Like , do you think that's ?
just like I know , like this dude looks like he can take me , yeah this tall skinny dago .
Looks like he could take me .
I'm out of here , like that's just not gonna happen , like I'll open the door and be like somebody pee pee to it I told you it was the next house over .
Someone's already got this one . Let's go like it was just it was the dumbest thing , and like people didn't think that joke was true for the longest time , like there's no way . Like that's the situation that you were in .
Well , I was on stage at a local bar , um , back in west virginia , and I was telling that story and I just happened to be looking around the crowd and I looked up and who happens to be there ? No , you're sitting . She was there and she was sitting at the bar .
Everybody is in tears , laughing at this part of the joke , and I waited for that , that laugh break that comics always wait for , and it died down . I went oh , and if anyone thinks this is bullshit , you can ask yourself .
She's the one in the pink shirt sitting at the ball with the steam coming out of her ears , like , and she just slammed her beard out and just like stormed out of there before I finished my set . But I was just like that sweet justice that she was there yeah , to know that , like she became the joke you know , yeah , she was . She was .
I mean , she wasn't happy with me to begin with . You know , obviously she was an ex at this point in time , but it was yeah , I was . And everyone's like , oh my god , you told that in front of us . Well , she broke up with me via text message , so she deserves it that . You know what I'm like . It was payback .
Yeah , I was like I don't give a shit , I'm not dating her anymore and I'm fucking care you know how lucky that is to get the opportunity to turn somebody into a joke like that for revenge , like not everybody gets to do that no , uh , you don't .
It's um , it's a rare time to get to do that and it's it's great , because I've had to like rework that joke a little bit now that I'm married and everything like that . Uh , because I used to say start that joke as well recently single , and then I would just lead into that joke .
But the funny part to me was like I would always start that well , recently single , and nobody would laugh , or like they would always look at me and I would like thank you for that . Uh , by the way , like it is like you guys , you would think laughter would hurt at that point time . But no , the stunned silence is what really was .
Like yeah , that figures all right , go ahead , funny man . Like that's here what you have to say . Like yeah , when nobody's surprised yeah , it was just like the look of , okay , what are we reading from our diary here ? I thought we were at a comedy show like that's . But yeah and but yeah .
I mean I've changed that joke up a little bit to lead into it , because when me and my wife were first together and she started coming to shows and you know we were engaged , I was still starting that joke with well recently single and I still remember the look on her face when I did that for the first time while she was at a show and then she was just
like is this how he's breaking up with me ? like , is this what happens with comics ? Like they just get on stage like , oh , by the way , it's over , you know ? I was like no , no , I just haven't reworked that joke yet . I didn't know how to lead into it . So that's just we'll .
We'll figure it out in the way how we'll we'll talk about it on the way home but yeah , to explain , like memorizing and like you're like , no , this is my type five . It's just take some time to change it yeah , I haven't had an open mic to read , to rework and intro to that joke , and that's just . I memorized this joke and I'm sorry .
We're , we're fine , we're still . We just bought a house together . You think I'm just break up with you ? We would be like , no , you're going to kill me to get rid of it . We were working this together for 30 years at least . Yeah , until this mortgage is paid off . You got to that's not single . You get till this house is paid for .
And we have , and you know we , um , we have a kid , um , a son . Well , he's a stepson to me but , um , you know he , you know , obviously , you know his dad's not in the picture and I've picked up the payments for the last eight years . So , yeah , he's mine , um , yeah , but you know it , it would cause a lot of stink that way .
But , like you said earlier in the show , like I still have pages and pages of jokes that I've written about my son that I haven't got to try yet , yeah , and everybody that I kind of like test my jokes out on , like I just kind of say them in like conversation with like co-workers and stuff like that , to kind of see if it's going to get a chuckle and
say , yeah , I can , I can make this work and I have a feeling I have some gold right in my hand like it's . It's gonna be good , like I'll tell this one . Um , and it was about the first time my son at cost for the first time .
He was seven or eight years old and I was at work at the time and I was working just a shitty factory job like I worked for the walmart distribution center and just to break your back type of work like it was brutal and I was on one of the few smoke breaks that we got throughout the day and my wife knew because they were at the same time every day .
So looked out at my wife calls me and I answered she was just like well , you'll never believe what your son just said . I was like , oh , now I have ownership of him . He's not actually mine , but now he must have really fucked up . He was like well , he cussed in front of me for the first time . I was like , oh , what did he say ? She goes .
I'm gonna start this by I'm not mad , because he used it correctly . I was just like now . I was like I got like two minutes till I got to go back in there . You better hurry this story up .
Well , they were coming around a turn , they were at a stop sign , there was all these kids just in the middle of the road , like blocking the road , just being kids and playing . And he was in the back seat and he looked , he goes oh , what are these fucking guys doing ?
And at first my wife was just like yeah wait a minute like what she was , just like .
I couldn't even be mad , because he used it correctly and he's eight like yeah , I was like well , that's tough when they get it that quickly yeah , and he's , he's faster than me .
Like you saw a little bit of how quick-witted I am on stage and stuff like that . Yeah , he's faster than me . With his comebacks and his witty comebacks I was like he's either going to be a salesman or a comedian . There's no chance for him with how quick-witted he is .
And it's phenomenal something like sometimes , like when he says something if I don't have my joke notebook like within reach , I gotta get my phone . Like hold on . I gotta that's gonna be cold , I gotta hold on . I gotta say it again , just how you said it . You know what I mean . Like it's just , kids are gold .
Yeah , like you're sure , like you were talking about your , your daughter , right ?
Yep , so I have a similar . I have a similar joke that I wrote , and she's only three . There was a yeah , there was a time where I forgot something . We were like gonna go out to dinner and I forgot like a gift card or something like that was what we're gonna use to To go get dinner somewhere .
So I went back into the apartment , I came back down to the car and then I opened the door and immediately she's like little bitch . It's become like one of my bread and butter jokes to like tell that story like I've added to it over time but like a three-year-old , like just no hesitation calling you a little bitch .
And so then she went on like a whole Phase for a while where she was like because we laughed right , like my wife and I are both like there's a reason I do comedy , right and like so we both laugh and like that just reinforced it .
So then she started testing out who she could call a little bitch and it was like for months we had to kind of like distinguish , like okay , you can say it at home , but you can't like call grandma a little bitch right .
Yeah , we're having that problem now because my son's 14 now , like , and he just , you know , if he has no filter , like me , like if it pops into his head it's coming out of his fucking mouth , like he's been , we've been like around his grandma and stuff like that and he , she says something .
He would just go oh , jesus Christ , maim , like it's , not only do you just cuss at your grandmother , but you now you're taking the Lord's name in vain , like , like that's a , you almost have the trifecta right there , man , like if you would have added a fuck in there , like you would have had it right on the , like that .
But yeah , it's just like alright at home , whatever , my wife and I get a laugh out of it . I get material out of it when you're at school , when we're getting calls that you're cussing kids out at school , like no .
Yeah , I'm waiting for those . Like my daughter's in preschool right now and like I think there's no way that she's keeping it clean at school , I think they just don't care . But once she goes to an actual like , like public school , I'm like we're gonna be in that office every week .
Yeah , it got to the point where my wife and the assistant principal were on a first name basis .
Yeah , I'm waiting for that yeah .
Yeah , I'm giving you a little glimpse of what you get to see into your future . Oh man , so what do you got coming up , you know , as far as comedy shows Lined up , any , any big gigs or anything that you got in the works , yeah , so when does when does this come out ? This is gonna come out probably mid to late September .
Okay , at the end of September I believe it's September 28th I'm gonna be a part of a sketch show at Capricaro , ac and Columbus . It's called something sketchy . That's one . The one that I'm really excited about October . Actually , I have one October 12th . October 12th is gonna be at the attic . It's a versus battle .
Me and my friend , heather Scott , we're gonna do like a battle against each other . And then there's a . There's a show at the funny bone on October 18th I believe , and it's a Wednesday night jokes mania , and so it's basically like a like if they turn WrestleMania into a comedy
¶ Comedic Therapy Podcast and Show Production
show . So there's like a . They're doing like tag team matches , like with comedy I'm gonna be part of like a battle royale when everybody gets four minutes and you're just trying to compete against like I think it's like six Comedians total in that battle royale . So that would be a good time for sure .
And Until then , I've got my own podcast that Heather , who I just mentioned , heather and I are doing is called comedic behavior therapy . So we've been releasing that every Thursday .
Awesome . So yeah , tell us a little bit about the podcast .
Yeah , so the podcast kind of Deals with my background , like my work and comedy . So we're kind of like the idea is , how do we use humor to cope with things ? So I kind of have to be careful with , like how I present my credentials because I don't want people to take the mental health portion like too seriously . But it's , it's really .
It's like you know , whatever's like going on , a lot of like what we asked guests like kind of like what's going on currently in their life and like we kind of Like a riff off of that and like make jokes out of it and stuff like that Like , but at the same time trying to have that perspective of like you know what's a different way we could look at this
like . So it's like it's kind of just leaning into that . You know , how can comedy be therapeutic for people ? We have a lot of like comics as guests . We plan to have some more like kind of mental health professionals and kind of just like look more into blending those two things . Right now it's been very like .
We're only six episodes in , so we're still like very like fresh to the podcast game . But yeah , it's for anybody who's interested . You can find it on YouTube , spotify , apple , all the major podcast platforms .
That's awesome . I remember starting Podcasting three years ago right in the heart of COVID it . I never thought it was something I would stick with , you know . I mean I was like I'll do it till Shows open up . It'll be something fun . I can do my spare time .
Because I'm sitting around the house right now , because I'm not working , there's no comedy shows like Fuck , do I do ? You know ? It was like kind of that point . But like I love podcasting , I never thought it was something because I didn't even really Listen to podcast before I even got into podcasting . Like that's how green I was .
And you know , three years later I like I love doing this , like this is Fun for me , this this is my therapy when I'm not on stage , getting to sit here and talk to other people and getting to know them a little bit better and like , like I said , I know me and you've been talking back and forth ever since the attic show in June and , you know , trying
to Trying to work together again . And you know I can't wait and I hope we can definitely get that chance again to get on stage together again .
Oh , yeah for sure . Yeah , I've been working on Trying to put together some more of my own shows . It's , you know , like that's one thing , like there are a lot of opportunities , but it's a matter of like . When you're creating your own , it's like it's finding the venue , it's finding how to do ticketing , like all that kind of stuff .
We had one venue that we did a show at , and then we kind of had some issues with this and then we had to look for a new one . So building your own shows is like you're , if you're getting in a comedy , you . That's one route to kind of make your own path , but don't expect it to be easy .
You're like we're working twice as hard , probably more than twice as hard .
I did that once . I put on one show and it was at Mad Lab's Theater in Columbus Ohio and it was such a nightmare setting everything up , tickets , lighting stage , finding the comics . It's just like dude , I just want to get on stage and tell my dumb jokes to people . It was fun to get to see that business side of the industry and everything like that .
But that's like , yeah , I'll just be the entertainer and I give props to these bookers and promoters because it's not for me .
Yeah , there's so many things you don't even think about . I would think I had one thing figured out and then someone was messaging me the QR code has given me an error and so I went to it and it's like the page won't load from the QR code . So then I had to remake all the flyers with a new QR code that was actually working .
It's just stuff like that . It's little headaches that you never see coming , and then you just got to like it's constant problem solving .
But once you get , if you successfully put on a show , like a show we did , I think the venue was only supposed to hold about 50 people and we sold closer to 60 tickets , so we were like we had people pack in this room . And once you do that , you get that rush and like we did it , we accomplished this thing , we put so much work into it and whatever .
But then there's also then you have like this like come down where , like for me , I had to take like a week and just like meditate , because I was like what if we can't do it again ? Like how do you keep up this success and things like that . So it's like you will put yourself through emotional hell trying to put on your own shows .
Yeah , absolutely , and like that's why I was just like you know what . It was fun to see that side and get the produce host and finish off a show , but never again . Like I'm not doing that again . Like it was . It was a pretty good success , but no , no more . Like that's it for for Bono and then in producing shows .
But , justin , we are running down near the end of the episode here and I do have to get this segment in because if I don't the manager of the podcast will kill me and that we haven't done it in a little while because we've had some people on where we couldn't really do this part of the show a little bit . More serious shows .
But it is the fast , fitty five , five random questions from the wonderful manager of the podcast , johnny Fitty , falcone and Tristan . These have nothing to do with what we've been talking about for the entire . What 40 minutes we've been talking here now . They're kind of rapid fire , but you can elaborate if you need to .
So if you are ready , you will get rolling . Okay , I'm trying to get interrupted here for a second . If you got to deal with it , we'll get .
we'll get deal with her , and then we'll get it . Okay , yeah , just give me just one second . Yeah , good , do what you gotta do you don't have to go to bed , just give me . Give me like five moments . Okay , not right now , maybe like okay , if I can turn one , I'll be about five minutes , then we can play .
All right , it's your good joys of kids . Yeah , I love these real shows like this . That makes it . That makes it more fun for me . But anyways , all right , so fast , 55 , five random questions , kind of rapid fire , but you can elaborate if you need to . So if you're ready , man , yep , I'm ready . Who's the better superhero , batman or Spider-Man ?
Oh , do I have to give a reason ? You don't have to .
Okay , I'm gonna go Batman Good call Well , question number two If you could be one animal , what would you be ? A rhinoceros or a pterodactyl ? That's not even a rhinoceros or a pterodactyl .
Pterodactyl being being able to fly be awesome .
Yeah , he has an animal question in every single one of these , and he sent me these today for all the new listeners out there . Like I didn't have time to prepare for these , so , like these are like , you're getting to see me read these for the first time too , as well .
All right , the best flavor of chips is probably sour cream and cheese and sour cream .
What is that ?
I can't even think of what it's called sour cream , and cheddar , the cheese ones , the cheesy ones , the orange ones they're awesome , the orange chips . If you could live anywhere in the world , where would it be ?
Oh , I've always . I've never been , but I've always wanted to go to the Pacific Northwest Just seems like a very cool . You get like beaches , you get mountains , all that . So somewhere in like Washington , oregon , somewhere around here .
And last question and I knew he was gonna do this because I'm talking to a comic your favorite comic is oh , that's a tough one .
Yeah , I think . If I could say one person who really has impacted my style , tom Segura , yeah , I think , I think . I don't know if he's my favorite , but definitely he's the most influential on me .
Okay , I get it Because you know , I mean I'm the same way like Bill Burr , kind of like that's influential because we both go on these like long filled rants on stage , like that's kind of .
I guess why emulate on stage is being why I got into comedy , because you know he just goes up there and just bitches about his day and it goes on about his life and gets laughs . But you know , tom Segura , burke Grasher , you know , seeing both of them live it's , you can't go wrong with either of those two .
Yeah , well , tom tells a lot of stories and a lot of his stories are about like the kind of the same stuff that I draw material from . He talks about his kids , he talks about interactions with strangers , stuff like that . So his timing like just I feel like I just watch .
I watch his sets and I kind of like feel like a metronome in my head where I'm like what is , what is the beat ? He's keeping on with these jokes and then I just try to . I feel like I try to emulate that a lot .
That's good idea . That's not bad person to emulate .
Yeah , he's killing it right now , but that was the Fast 55 .
And . I guess , he's oh man , he's killing me with these questions , like he sends me , like last minute , like it's just , it's fun . I love him to death . Johnny Fittifalconi , the manager of the podcast . But that is actually going to do it for this week's episode of the Ride Home Rans Podcast .
Tristan , I give every guest this opportunity at the end of the show . I'm going to give you about a minute . If there's anything you want to get out there , whether it's for your podcast , any shows , anything like that , or just a good message
¶ Comedic Behavior Therapy Interview With Tristan
, I'm going to give you about a minute . The floor is yours , man .
Yeah , so you could find me on Instagram and TikTok . It's the Tristan Shea . That's S-H-A-E , not like the butter . And then my podcast with Heather Scott . Heather Scott's also very hilarious . I'm another comment from Columbus . That podcast is called Comedic Behavior Therapy and you can find that wherever you listen to podcasts . Be sure to check that out .
As far as shows , you're in Columbus , just follow me on Instagram .
My shows are always on there , so All right , yeah , I love it when people can get stuff out there Everyone . I will put all of the links to his handles . Everything like that will be in the description of the show where you can find Tristan and his podcast and everything like that .
But , like I said , that's going to do it for this week's episode of the Ride Home Rans Podcast . I want to again thank Tristan Shea for joining the show .
This was a lot of fun to actually get to sit down with another fellow comic and actually just get to shoot the shit and not be talking to coaches and professionals and stuff like that , and actually getting to talk to another comic . I love to get to do that and thank you for coming on .
We really appreciate it and , as always , if you enjoyed the show , be a friend , tell a friend . If you didn't tell them anyways , they might like it just because you didn't . That's going to do it for me and I will see y'all next week .